SO IT HAS COME TO THIS? : Save me from defeat, Jonathan begs PDP Govs ... DailyIndependent

By Rotimi Akinwunmi, Snr. Correspondent, Abuja

Not wanting to take chances or ignore the formidable forces arrayed against him within and outside his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the build up to the rescheduled general elections, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Friday night met stakeholders of the party.

Jonathan

The object of the meeting was how to maximise the opportunity offered by the new poll’s date, March 28, 2015, to swing more support and votes for the second term ambition of the President.

According to Dino Melaye, former member of the House of Representatives, who first broke the news in his official tweeter handle (@dino_melaye), the meeting was attended by PDP governors, members of the party’s National Executive Committee and some key persons, including Tony Anenih, chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and Edwin Clarke, a party leader.

“The President who spoke after lengthy discussions by participants at the meeting chaired by PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, thanked those present particularly the governors and NEC members, assuring them of his total support.

“He appealed to the governors to stave off the impending loss at the poll and called for collaboration to ensure victory at the polls.

“We must work hard to save the party and all our contestants. It is true, the report out there is call for great concern and this is why we must use the new window in the poll shift to talk to Nigerians, woo them and even beg them where necessary,” Melaye said.

Also speaking, Chief Anenih begged the gathering to put more efforts in their various states to ensure victory in the coming election. For him: “It is either we win or perish together.”

Melaye also revealed that Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, blamed the conspiracy by some unnamed elements, in reply to an otherwise rhetorical question by Clark as to why the President is seemly unacceptable despite all his laudable achievements.

“Please my people I beg you, this election is a must win for our president and all of us,” Chief Clark was quoted as saying.

The meeting was attended by all governors under the party’s platform, except Isa Yuguda and Sule Lamido Bauchi and Jigawa states respectively, who were also not represented.

At the meeting, which held at the First Lady’s Conference Hall in the Presidential Villa, ending minutes after 6 a.m. on Saturday, Mu’azu was said to have lamented the way inter-party wrangling had been allowed to degenerate to the point where five governors dumped the PDP at the same time.

The governors are Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) who was subsequently impeached; Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers State); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto).

They were part of the group called G7 Governors in the aftermath of the elections of the now splinter Nigerian Governors Forum, dumped the party first for the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), before moving to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the nation’s main opposition party. The other two: Dr. Babangida Aliyu and Lamido of Niger and Jigawa respectively, however, chose to stay back in the PDP at the last moment.

As the meeting progressed, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State was said to have announced a Presidential approval for the distribution of N20 billion among some state governors, just as key swing states like Kano, Lagos, Rivers and Kaduna would get N2 billion to woo voters.

Another “N2 billion was also set aside to buy some political and public analysts to talk more about Mr. President and his achievements over the last six years. Some TV stations such as AIT and Channels would do the job,” he added.

Those at the meeting, Melaye continued, were particular pained by the exit of the governors of Rivers and Kano, which were PDP strongholds before now.

It was further learnt that there was a mild drama at the point when the party chairman tactically blamed the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, for allowing matters to degenerate to the point where the problem she had with Amaechi snowballed into his leaving the PDP. The intervention of Clark was said to have saved the situation from going worse.

The party’s chairman was also said to have taken a hard look at the build-up to the election and cautioned Femi Fani-Kayode, Director, Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, who was also at the meeting, and Olisa Metuh, Publicity Secretary of the party.

Melaye said both men were told that their propaganda activities seem to be having a backlash and rather making the APC candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari more popularly rather than the contrary.

“Instead of the current situation, he called for more issue based campaigns rather than attacking Buhari’s people as most of the campaign materials already churned out have done, if the PDP must get good support from the ordinary northerner.

“The meeting agreed to reduce negative adverts on Buhari, but Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti and his counterpart from Ondo saw it differently,” he noted.

Calls by Daily Independent to the phone numbers of Metuh, the PDP spokesman, did not connect, just as short messages to his phones were not replied as at press time.

When contacted on telephone, Fani-Kayode who neither confirmed nor denied that the meeting actually held promised to return a call to him. When he did, he said it was not true. “No meeting of such took place,” he said.

In a phone interview with our correspondent on Sunday evening, Anenih, who allegedly arrived the meeting venue in company of Clarke, denied knowledge of such a meeting, talk more of being in attendance.

He told Daily Independent from his Abuja base: “I am not aware of such meeting. I have been in Benin and just landed in Abuja.

Chief Anenih: “When was the meeting held?

Daily Independent: “Between Friday night and very early Saturday morning, Sir.

Chief Anenih: “I have been in Benin (City), I just arrived Abuja… Why not call Mu’azu…”

But another source told one of our correspondents that the meeting indeed held and that members of the PDP National Executive Committee moved from the party’s Wadata Plaza secretariat in Abuja, where they held a meeting to the Presidential Villa that Friday night.